Delicacies
by AppleCoreCandyBox
Summary: Sakura knows that Naruto would not have the same trouble she is having if he were in her place... -Gift for NekoKrizsty, side fic to "Even When he Smiles"-


_True friendship can afford true knowledge. It does not depend on darkness and ignorance__._

Henry David Thoreau

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Sakura was standing outside of the Happy Hills Rehabilitation Center, trying to work up the courage to go in and visit her teammate.

She stood staring at the large building, wondering why it seemed so hard to just walk up, push open the door and go in. She'd done it before, many times now actually. None of those times had been hard, none of those times had there been a weight in her stomach that seemed to hold her in place.

It wasn't even mid-November, and yet the air was cold and bitter enough to force Sakura to wear a heavy down feather coat, long sleeved sweater and pants. Through those layers, Sakura rubbed at a single spot on the inside of her forearm. On that spot that she was rubbing rested a soft, pink colored scar that was just nondescript enough to be blamed on any sort of everyday accident.

A wrong move of the knife in a kitchen, hitting a counter corner too hard, sewing accident. Everyday things that meant nothing could be a perfect excuse for the small, innocent marking.

And yet, she knew that the little pink thing had a much darker reason behind it.

In her attempt, -an ignorant, sad attempt, she realizes- to try and understand what Naruto got out of hurting his body, she had scarred her own.

It was this little pink mark that kept her from taking another step forward. She'd come with the intention of showing Naruto her attempt at understanding him better, had come to try and talk to him more openly.

But now she was rooted to a spot not but ten feet away from the door.

Sakura took a deep breath, trying to steel her will. Just as she thought she might be ready to take that step forward, she found a familiar face by her side.

"Sakura."

It was the affirmative voice of Shikamaru, catching Sakura by surprise.

"Shikamaru, w-what are you doing here?" she yelped, startled.

"Same as you. Visiting."

"R-right." Sakura didn't like that she'd jumped so easily.

For Shikamaru, this visit would be expected to be just like any other he'd had with Naruto.

For her, well, this visit meant that she was going to try to tell her teammate one of her dirty little secrets.

'Considerable difference in stress levels.' Sakura noted.

There was a pause

"Are you going in? Or are you going to stare at the building all day?" came the dry tone of said boy genius, a smirk playing across his face.

"Yeah. Eventually."

Shikamaru arched a brow at this.

"Is something wrong?"

"What? Why would there be?"

Shikamaru turned to face the building again.

"You've never hesitated to go in and visit him before. Always the first one of us in, always the last out. Something's got to be wrong for you to be hesitating so badly."

Sakura sighed again, the image of the small pink mark on her forearm surfacing in her mind.

"It's nothing…I was just going to…try and talk to him about something…delicate." Sakura had to pause several times in her response, had to think of the best way to word the truth without actually saying it out loud.

"What sort of delicacies?"

Of course, Shikamaru would never let an answer remain vague enough for him not to be able to draw anything from it.

"Delicate delicacies." She answered cryptically.

Shikamaru shrugged.

"Don't get angry at me. I was just thinking I could help if I knew what you were so nervous about. I might be able to help you figure out how to talk it out. That might at least help you get up the nerve to actually go inside."

Sakura frowned and turned her face to glare lightly at the boy.

"I was about to walk in when you showed up, you know."

"But how long were you standing there before then? Your cheeks and nose are kind of red, and it's not cold enough yet for that to happen in the span of a few minutes."

Sakura turned to glare half-heartedly at the building, before her body sagged slightly and she let out another deep sigh.

"If Naruto were me, and I was Naruto right now, he wouldn't need to have someone help him figure out how to talk to his friends. Not even about delicate things."

Another pause.

"Yeah, if it were anyone else up there in his place, he'd probably fair the best with dealing with the situation."

"I wish he were here. He'd know how to tell me how to talk to him about this." Sakura sighed again, shoulders sagging just the slightest bit more.

"So…" Shikamaru began again, "what are trying to get the guts to talk about with him?"

Sakura's will had left her completely; the will to go in, the will to try and talk to Naruto about her own tiny bout of self-harm, the will to even satisfy Shikamru's curiosity and accept his help.

"It doesn't matter. It was selfish of me to want to talk to him about it anyways." Sakura said as she turned and walked away.

Shikamaru watched her go, making no attempt to follow her. Girls were so hard to decipher.

"Troublesome. I can't believe I'm saying this, but you'd probably know better how to deal with this Naruto. I wish you were here, instead of up in there." Shikamaru muttered to himself, turning and walking into the building.

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Note:

Believe me when I say this, I have not given up on "Even When he Smiles"…I have not at all given up on it. It's just right now it's very hard to find drive to update or post anything longer then a short or mid-length chapter/one-shot. My family is going through a lot of stuff right now, even more then just my Grandma and her cancer. The situation I pretty delicate, so I'm not going into details (no matter how much I think you guys deserve a foreword explanation). Thank you all for your continued support, for anyone who believes in God, just say a little prayer for my family if you find the inclination to do so.

On another note:

This is a gift for **NekoKriszty** that I promised a while back (yay! Finally got it to you!!). I don't know if this is exactly if she was looking for, but I hope she enjoys it all the same. Much love Neko, and thank you for the continued comments on my works. You'll never know how much they really mean to me, especially right now.


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